Ecstasy of Gold

Got a kick out of seeing this on YouTube, thought I’d share. My very favourite Ennio Morricone track, Ecstasy of Gold from THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY. Nothing beats the sight of Eli Wallach, as a supposedly hardboiled Mexican bandito, sprinting round a vast wheel-shaped graveyard on Mauritius, in an incongruously effeminate, unhealthful and gingerly fashion, as Morricone freaks out on the soundtrack. It was nice to see how those transcendent noises were generated.

Somebody said Morricone’s score for A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS sounded like a cross between Duane Eddy and Puccini recorded in someone’s bathroom, a phrase that’s always stuck with me (thanks to Sir Christopher Professor Frayling for quoting it). While the live version misses those little studio touches of reverb and amplified pizzicato strings, it still gives me goosebumps.